A Trap Sprung For Two
by jtbwriter
Summary: In answer to a Special Ops Challenge. Kate is the victim of a sniper intent on revenge against Gibbs. The team must band together to stop an old foe before he strikes again. Rating uped slightly for violence, just in case
1. Default Chapter

A Trap Sprung For Two

A NCIS Special Ops Story-Written in response to Challenge #14

Thanks for the support, fellow Agents

(The characters are the property of Bellasarius Productions and DPB-and I promise to put them back as soon as I'm done with them!)

The car swerved dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

Behind the wheel, a wounded Agent Catlin Todd fought to stay conscious despite the blood seeping from her shoulder. She had to get to Gibbs before it was too late. If she had been the victim of a set-up, so might he.

Suddenly her cell phone went off, and seeing the name on the id-she could have wept for joy.

Gibbs.

She slowed and found a turnabout with sightlines for both directions. Stopping for a moment, she took a deep breath, then answered.

"Gibbs, thank God, are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm all right, I take it you didn't send a message to meet me in back of the Military Monument." Kate found herself relieved at his snippy tone.

"No, it was a trap. I got a message to meet someone, metallic voice, in back of the Tunnel on Rte 9, or else you and Tony were dead. I got a little greeting when I showed up. I'm hit in the shoulder, but I'm going to try to get to Basin Hospital." All at once she started to feel light-headed, then Gibbs' voice started to fade in and out.

"Kate, Kate! Stay where you are, we're coming for you. Lock yourself in."

Was that concern in his tone? Kate grinned sloppily at the thought of a worried Gibbs.

Abruptly she heard the sounds of a car, high powered and foreign. At once she realized her predicament; wounded, alone, her weapon near to useless as her shooting arm was bleeding out.

Voices sounded, then a pounding on her window.

"Go away, I'll call the police." she yelled, then nearly choked as a familiar voice sounded in her ears.

"Kate, open up, it's Gibbs."

Fumbling with the door lock, she nearly slid out the door on to the pavement when the door was jerked open.

"I've got you Kate, it's okay." The smell of sawdust in her nose, she blinked and saw those steely blue eyes, so often angry, now, whoa, concerned?

Just then Gibbs sat her up so Tony could put a compress on her shoulder.

"Just a flesh wound, Gibbs, ouch, not so hard, Tony!" Kate suddenly decided a worried Gibbs was very nice to be around, as he insisted on carrying her to his car, then settled her into the back seat next to Tony.

"All right, Kate, just hold on to me, I don't want you banging around the car when Gibbs does a ..whoooo!" Tony didn't get a chance to finish before the senior agent put his car through a 360 and doubled back to D.C.

"Okay, Kate, start at the beginning, now who called you, and why didn't you check with us and get some back up before you nearly got yourself killed." Gibbs fixed her with an angry glance; obviously he figured she was going to be all right and was taking off the gloves, Kate realized.

Opening her mouth, she hesitated, wincing as they took a curve at high speed, then Gibbs met her eyes in the mirror, and she didn't waste any words on excuses.

"I was on my way to work when I got a text message, that I was to come alone to the old Tunnel on Rte 9, to be there by 9 am or you and Tony were dead. I tried to reach the both of you, but neither of you picked up your phone, and the line at NCIS wasn't answering." Kate gave a little moan as Tony put fresh pressure on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Kate, take it slow." Gibbs eyes suddenly softened.

"I parked on the edge of the road, then I saw Tony's jacket, at least a good imitation of it." She continued, seeing him wearing his usual leather coat.

"Suddenly I caught fire, the only reason they didn't nail me immediately was the wind picked up and gave me a moment to dive out of the way." Kate took a deep breath. "Unfortunately I was hit when I tried to see if either of you were being held hostage."

Gibbs sucked in his breath, okay, she'd taken precautions, couldn't get ahold of them because he and Tony were in the field in a no-signal zone. He was going to have to do something about that.

"Go on, Kate." He urged.

"I managed to dive back into my car, then started it back up and peeled out of there, that's when I noticed the blood from my shoulder. I thought I was going to go over the cliff a couple of times before you called.

What bothers me is the speed with which this attack came on, as if…" Kate's words trailed off as the same idea struck all three of them.

"As if someone was watching us, and planned to have Tony and I as bait." Gibbs finished.

The agent was silent as he wheeled into the hospital emergency zone, then barely let the motor stop before he was out and opening the door to take Kate inside.

Within minutes he'd made a call to Ducky, then left Tony to have McGee run the phone records off of Kate's cell phone.

"Not again, not ever." Gibbs swore as he marched into the treatment room where Kate was. He saw the doctor stitching her arm, then frowned at the sight her biting her lip to keep from crying out.

"Doctor, how is she?" he asked with thinly veiled anger.

"She'll be in some pain, unfortunately Agent Todd is allergic to the topical painkiller I would have given her to alievate her discomfort. Her blood loss was not as bad as it looked, however, so I think she can be released tomorrow. I just want to keep her under observation until all her tests come back." The baby-faced doctor replied, fixing Gibbs with an annoyed stare.

"Thank you, Doctor. I'm going to need any bullet fragments you may have removed, so we can track down the person who shot her." The senior agent told him, then Kate raised her head, realizing for the first time how furious Gibbs was that she was a victim.

"Gibbs, I'm all right, don't worry. I told Dr. Harmon here that when he took a piece of bullet out." She tried to placate him.

"Good thinking, Kate. I already called Duck, I'll send it over to him as soon as I have it." Gibbs answered, then turned as a nurse came in with an evidence bag holding bloodied metal bits.

"Doctor, I have the blood test results."


	2. Chapter 2

As the nurse handed over the lab sheet, Gibbs sat next to Kate, then took her hand.

Dr. Harmon glanced at the paperwork, then looked up and noticed Gibbs proximity to Kate.

"Agent Todd, you'll be relieved to know there was no sign of tentnus or bacteria indicating anything infectious entered your blood stream from the fragment of bullet I removed." The doctor remarked, then saw with some satisfaction the older man's surprise.

"What do you mean, Dr., was there something about the bullet that hit Kate, er, Agent Todd?" Gibbs couldn't keep the note of anxiety out of his voice..

"I'm sure your Dr. Mallard will be confirming this, but the bullet that struck Agent Todd in the shoulder had rust on it, so there was the chance it could have led to an infection. Fortunately, there was none." Harmon replied, seeing the woman squeeze Gibbs' hand with relief.

"Thank you, Dr. " Gibbs coolly answered him, then smiled with a wry intensity at Kate.

"Well, Kate, you've bought yourself a couple of weeks desk duty once you get out of here. I'm sure Ducky will want to satisfy himself of course, but right now I want you to rest, I've got to get these fragments over to Abby."

Just then Tony came in with a sheaf of papers which he handed to the senior agent, and a rose, which he presented to Kate.

"Oh, Tony….thanks!" Kate was at a loss for words.

Gibbs smirked at Tony. "Never thought I'd see the day you left Kate speechless, DiNozzo. Just for that I want you to stay with Kate, I want to make sure our shooter doesn't get a second chance."

Ignoring Kate's attempt to dissuade Gibbs from posting a guard, Gibbs patted her hand then strode out of the room.

"Uh, boss, how's Kate?" McGee was at the elevator bank when Gibbs went to leave.

"She'll be all right, I have DiNozzo with her just in case she's a target again." Gibbs informed him, then added, "Okay, what's in these papers ?" He fixed McGee with a stare.

"The phone records you requested, boss."

"Let's go!" Without a backward glance Gibbs entered the elevator as soon as the doors opened and McGee followed him in, wanting to tell his boss he could just as well have stayed at the office. One look in Gibbs eyes nixed that idea.

As soon as Gibbs walked back into NCIS headquarters, he told McGee to get to work with Abby in locating Kate's caller, while he went to see Ducky.

As he entered Autopsy, he met an anxious Dr. Mallard, who grabbed his arm.

"Jethro, is Catlin all right, Timothy said she was shot."

"Relax, Duck, she'll be fine. Unfortunately her attacker probably knows by now she's alive, so we have to find out who it was before he or she strikes again." He said, putting his no-nonsense face on.

Ducky wasn't fooled, he knew Gibbs affection for his team. "We'll find this viper, Jethro, now let me see what the doctor dug out of Catlin." He replied earnestly, holding out his hand.

Within minutes Abby had determined that the caller who lured Catlin to the highway tunnel had used a pre-paid phone, from somewhere in the D.C. area.

"Gibbs, you're in luck, I think I've got it pinned down where the jerk called from. McGee and I triangulated from the signal where he was laying in wait." a chipper Abby bounced into the bullpen, followed by a smiling McGee, who lost his grin when he saw Gibbs perusing the phone records.

"Something wrong, boss?"

"Question, McGee. When you and Abbs figured the position of the sniper, did you take into consideration the wind gusts? Kate said the wind carried the sound of the shot so she dove and it only caught her shoulder. " Gibbs eyed him sternly..

"Uh, yes, no, that is I don't think so?" the junior agent stammered, then breathed a sigh when Abby took over.

"Gibbs, Tony told us, so of course we adjusted for the wind as well as the location, the shooter wasn't more then 70 yards from Kate, so I figured he was on the other side of the parkway." She informed him, then stared back at him with a dare-you smile.

Blue eyes met brown, then Gibbs grinned.

"Good work. McGee, you're with me. Let's see where this snake took his shot." Gibbs started back out the door, only almost run Ducky over.

"Jethro, my timing is perfect for once." He huffed, then saw McGee fumbling to get his backpack on with Abby's help.

"Timothy, you're going to pull a muscle putting that monstrosity on, let Abby help you."

"What is it, Duck, what did you find." Gibbs stopped in his tracks.

"Did they run a blood test on Catlin at the hospital?" Ducky questioned, then took a deep breath as Gibbs replied, "Yes, it was negative for any bacterial infections or viruses. The doctor was concerned because of.."

"The rusted bullets? That doctor did a good job; those fragments must be over 20 years old." Ducky mused, then paled.

"Jethro, I just had a horrible thought." He sat down heavily, then looked up at his friend.

"What if this is all a setup for our shooter to get revenge on you or Anthony or Catlin, the way that bullet shattered, it was meant to injure, not kill."

Gibbs nodded. "The thought crossed my mind, that's why Tony's with her now-he'll protect her better then anyone."

He started toward the door, then whirled to stare at Ducky.

"You're right, it was meant as revenge, against me. Ducky, you and Abby stay put, I'm going to the hospital, I know who did this and this time I'm not shooting to wound."

Bolting out the door, Gibbs left behind a seething Dr. Mallard, who immediately turned and told Abby,

"Dear, break out the tea, would you? I'm going to need something to steady myself."

"What is it, Ducky, who does Gibbs think is the shooter?" the lab tech asked, then caught herself and collapsed next to the doctor.

"Ari-it's Ari."

As Gibbs raced to the hospital, Kate was busy watching Tony watching the blond "hottie" who had brought in a tray of very unappetizing steamed fish and vegetables for dinner.

"Doctor Harmon said you need to eat something, Ms. Todd, before you have your medication." The young nurse explained, then giggled as Tony flashed his "come here" smile.

"Now that's what I call good patient care, Kate. Brandi, is that your name?"

"Yes, Mr. Todd. Do you want me to bring you some fish too, so you can eat with your wife?" Brandi asked, then looked perplexed as Tony flushed then stammered "Uh, Brandi, no, she's not…."

"Thank you, nurse, I think he might like some, only…." Kate debated on giving it to Tony but decided to put him out of his misery. "He's not my husband, he's another agent."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl was embarrassed, then managed a smile as Tony gave Kate a grateful look and sweetly replied "That's okay, we agents spend so much time together, it's an easy mistake. Now, Brandi, why don't you.." The rest of Tony's sentence was drowned out by a blaring siren and the nurse blanched.

"We have an emergency, excuse me, please!"

As she raced out of the room, Tony waited a beat, then smiled at Kate.

"Nice save, Kate. I thought you were going to let me hang there."

"I was tempted," she started, then Tony's cell rang.

"Gibbs." Tony told her, then answered, "Yo, boss."

"DiNozzo, don't let Kate out of your site, I'm on my way."

"What is it, Tony." Kate caught the look of concern, then gasped as Tony replied "Boss, you know who the shooter is?"

"Yes, it's Ari. He's going after me through you two." Came the response.

Suddenly a screeching noise came over the cellphone, then Gibbs yelled, "My brakes are gone, DiNozzo, call McGee, I'm at the Basin exit…"

A loud bang interrupted him, then the sound of a crash echoed in Tony's ears.

"Boss! " Tony yelled. Kate blanched then called into the cell, "Gibbs!"


	3. Chapter 3

While Tony called McGee, Kate managed to use the room phone and call the Director, then alert the local police. Once their calls were done, with McGee hanging up only when he reached the area where Gibbs crashed, Tony took a breath, then pulled out his weapon.

"Kate, I'm going to tell Dr. Harmon that until we have Ari, dead or alive, no one comes in this room." Kate saw the worry in his eyes.

"Tony, it'll be okay. Gibbs is probably all right, Ari'll be caught before he makes it here." She told him calmly. "I mean, what are the odds he'll risk capture just to get another shot at me."

"Zilch, but I still have dibs on that bastard." Tony growled, then saw Kate's look of surprise.

"What?"

"Nothing, 'cept…..thanks." Tony couldn't believe her response, it was almost …affectionate.

He bit back the quip he was about to toss back, then quietly said, "You're welcome."

They smiled at each other, then froze as footsteps sounded outside the hospital room door.

Suddenly Tony checked his gun, then hissed "Kate, get in the closet, now!"

"Whaaat?" Kate didn't get it, then nodded, realizing she was a liability as far as being able to defend herself.

Soundlessly slipping off the bed, she grabbed her robe off a chair then hid in the closet just as someone tried the door.

"Ms. Todd, Agent DiNozzo, open the door. It's Doctor Harmon."

Letting out a deep breath, Tony went to the door, then peered out the small window glass.

Seeing a man in hospital whites with a surgical mask on, he opened the door a crack.

"Uh, Doctor, sorry. There's a threat to Agent Todd, so we have to keep this door secured for now." he explained.

"I don't understand….Where's Ms. Todd?" the voice was concerned.

Tony jerked his head toward the closet, then got a creepy feeling.

"Doctor Harmon, can you tell me why you have a surgical mask on?" Tony asked, stepping back and raising his weapon.

"Good question, Agent DiNozzo." The voice lowered, then Tony struggled with his anger as the mask dropped to reveal the smiling face of Ari.

"Yeah, well you'll have plenty of time to think of an answer when you go to prison." Tony replied tensely, indicating with his gun that the Israeli agent should sit down.

"Oh, I'll have one for you even sooner if you don't put your gun down. I think Agent Gibbs' life might be worth it." The smug look on his face didn't quite reach his eyes.

Suddenly he made a move toward his side pocket, then threw a small pellet to the floor, instantly releasing a cloud of smoke.

Choking, Tony made as if to grab at the terrorist, only to feel a steel grip on his neck, then found himself thrown to the ground.

"Get away from him." Tony heard Kate's voice, raw with fury, then saw the dark-haired man abruptly flipped out of his sight. Catching his breath, he managed to get to his feet, then saw through the disapating smoke Ari coming off the floor, then knocking Kate backwards onto the bed.

"Too bad you turned down getting to know me better, my dear Catlin." The smooth voice roughened as Kate struggled against him, then Ari grasped her arm, causing her to cry out in pain against her will.

"No!" Tony started to lunge towards him, then halted as Kate jackknifed her legs, catching the renegade agent below the waist.

With a loud below of pain Ari fell backwards then bent double as Tony ran to Kate's side, hustling her to the door. At once Ari straightened up, then grabbing up his gun, pointed it at the two of them.

"Sorry about Agent Gibbs, but he died so quickly; fortunately I can do the same for you." He said, then a look of shock came over his face. Instantly Tony heard a familiar growl, "DiNozzo, move!"

Taking Kate with him, Tony hit the floor, then heard two shots.

A loud thud nearby told Kate that the target had been hit, then strong arms picked her up.

"Gibbs!" she cried, relief in her voice. Tony got up, wincing then flashed a pained smile. "Boss!"

"Kate, are you all right." Blue eyes gazed into hers, then flicked down to a spot of blood on her hospital gown.

"He hurt you." Gibbs said tightly, then guided Kate back to her bed as McGee came in, then directed two security guards to remove the fallen body of Ari.

"He twisted my arm, Gibbs, I think he just broke the stitches, oh." She let out a gasp, then clung gratefully to his arm as he lifted her onto the bed.

"I'll find Doctor Harmon." Tony quietly offered, then grinned as Kate told him "Thanks, Tony."

"No problem, Kate." He smirked, then whacked McGee on the arm. "Come on, probie, you can hear all about the facedown." Giving Kate a smile then rolling his eyes for effect, McGee followed him out.

Suddenly Kate saw Gibbs' face, then realized the hate that had consumed him was ebbing.

"I'll be all right, thanks to you and Tony." She grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

Startled, Gibbs focused on her, then sat down heavily on the bed.

"I thought, I heard you… in pain. I thought I was too late…." He admitted wearily.

"No, you were right in time. Any sooner and he would have caught you with that smoke bomb; that's the only way he got the drop on us." Kate explained, then yawned, her adrenaline flagging.

A ghost of a smile played around his lips. "It's over, Kate. He'll never come after us again." He promised, then stood up as a subdued Doctor Harmon entered the room, followed by Nurse Brandi.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Todd, your attacker lured us into a room with an alarm then locked us in." he muttered, then went to work on her bloodied arm.

Gibbs gave him a withering look, then told the doctor "I think Agent Todd will be leaving first thing in the morning. She'll be under the care of our doctor."

"Very well, Agent Gibbs." Doctor Harmon grumbled, then finished tending to Kate.

"I'll give you something for the pain, Ms. Todd. Please call the nurse if you have any discomfort." He added, then politely said good night.

As soon as he left the room, Gibbs pulled an extra blanket over Kate, who was awkwardly trying to adjust the pillows.

"I'll do that." The senior agent pulled an extra pillow from the closet, then placed it under her injured arm.

"Thanks Gibbs." Kate felt oddly comfortable with him fussing over her. "Any time, Kate." Gibbs said offhandedly, then gently tucked the blankets around her.

Yawning, she whispered, "Good night, Gibbs."

Closing her eyes, she heard him reply in a quiet tone, "Sleep well, Kate."

As he turned down the lights and started to leave, he heard a slight moan come from her, then returned to her side only to see she had accidently turned on her bad arm.

"Sorry." She muttered sleepily, then nodded off.

Satisfied she was asleep, Gibbs took a seat next to the bed, then made himself comfortable.

A few minutes later, Tony poked his head in, then saw both agents sleeping.

"He sure looks peaceful." McGee's whisper nearly caused Tony to jump.

"Damn, don't do that!" he hissed then froze as Gibbs quietly warned, "DiNozzo, McGee, you wake her and you'll end up in the same condition."

"Sorry, Boss."

"Yeah, sorry, boss."

As both men withdrew from the room, Gibbs gave a satisfied grin, then took one more look at Kate then closed his eyes.


	4. Epilogue

"Tony, what are you doing?" Kate stopped in mid-stride, staring at DiNozzo as he sat at her desk.

'Uh, Kate, Hi!" he jumped in surprise, then quickly changed the web site he was looking at from to her screensaver.

"I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow, are you sure your arm's okay." Tony cast a sympathetic eye at her multi-colored sling.

"It's fine, Tony. I appreciate the concern. Now you go back to your desk so I can delete all the spam you've attracted from those bimbo sites of yours." Kate retorted half-heartedly, seeing a vase with violets and baby roses.

Smiling, she looked at the card, then glanced up at Gibbs as he came into the bullpen.

"Thanks, Gibbs. These are beautiful." Kate shyly smiled, then flushed as he quietly replied, "You're welcome, glad to have you back, Kate."

"Why, boss, that's touching," Tony smirked, then added in a fake hurt voice. "But why didn't you send me flowers when I've been hurt?"

"Well, gee, Tony, I don't know." Gibbs started in his sarcastic tone. "Could be you're not Kate?"

Tony flushed. "Uh, no, I mean, yes, Boss."

Gibbs shot back at him, "Good, glad we got that straightened out. Kate, go to Ducky. He'll check you out before he releases you for duty."

"Yes, Gibbs." Kate grinned, then remarked as she went past DiNozzo, "Glad we got your confusion cleared up, wouldn't want to distract you from your, er, e-mails."

As she and the senior agent disappeared to Ducky's lab, Tony slumped in his chair.

"Face it, Tony, Kate strikes again." McGee came out from under his desk, dust bunnies on his dark suit.

"Shut up, McGee, nobody likes an I-told-you-so." Tony groused, sitting at his desk.

Mc Gee just smiled.

Finis


End file.
